


the saddest word in the whole wide world

by Amber_Flicker



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Could Be Canon, Drabble, Gen, If you consider the wellsobard/Hartley relationship canon, Implied Relationships, Pre-Series, Unhappy Ending, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 14:56:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10833585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amber_Flicker/pseuds/Amber_Flicker
Summary: Confrontations in the lab and missed opportunities.





	the saddest word in the whole wide world

**Author's Note:**

> Jones from floor five belongs to ironyruinedmylife, and I use him with permission.

"No wonder your parents got rid of you, I've never met someone so fucking conceited." The room, previously filled with hushed conversation- they'd stopped working as soon as voices began to raise, because Hartley nitpicking at people was commonplace, but those people arguing back _wasn't-_ fell silent. Hartley had _flinched._ That, that was too far. Cisco fought with him more than anyone else, they threw insults at each other, but that was a line he'd never crossed. It was an unspoken rule. Family wasn't brought into their fights, from either side. It was too personal, too harsh. No one else dared. It was something that must only be talked about in whispers when he wasn't around, and never, _never_ brought up. Especially not like this. Everyone waited to see what would happen. Would he get violent? Would he break down? It was hard to tell, considering no one had ever seen him get upset.

Hartley's posture had gone rigid, face blank from what Cisco could see, blinking but not focused on- was that Jones from floor five? What was he even doing up here?

 

Then he stood up straighter, eyes dark. "You're fired." His voice was quiet, icy in a way Cisco hadn't ever heard before.

Cisco remembered reading, once, that it's when someone gets quiet that you should worry.

"You can't fire me. You don't have that authority, Rathaway." The name was a sharp reminder of what happened just a minute ago.

"Try me."

His unwavering certainty seemed to make the other man uneasy. Everyone here knew Hartley could get whatever he wanted. Jones didn't know that. He didn't belong here. A fact which seemed the be dawning on him. "Yeah, well, not like I wanted to work where you do, anyway." He didn't sound sure about that. He hesitated only a second before all but running from the room. 

 

Silence.

 

Cisco watched Hartley take a few deep breaths before he turned and glared at them all. "Back to work." Not even any insults along with it, like _or i'll fire all of you too_. 

Hartley turned, walking down the hall- probably to one of the more private offices, Cisco thought. They all distractedly went to work on what they'd been doing before... that. No one said anything to Hartley or really showed concern for what had happened (Caitlin might've, if she were here), no one had done a thing _while_ it was happening. Cisco knew why, but it felt wrong. Maybe he should- he didn't know what he was doing until he was already walking the direction Hartley had gone. Should he even try? He'd probably just get turned away, and maybe Hartley was better off being alone to work it out himself. Cisco had no right to go running in... He didn't even _like_ the guy. They weren't friends, there was no reason for Cisco to ask if he was okay or something. Hartley wouldn't do it for him.

He stopped suddenly. Doctor Wells had come out of nowhere. He must've noticed how distressed Hartley was- maybe he'd already been informed of what'd happened?- because he stopped him. They had a conversation that Cisco was too far away to hear (but the amount of physical contact... he would've never done that to anyone but his favorite, and Hartley would've destroyed anyone else who dared. And yeah, there were the rumours, but Cisco hadn't been sure until now that anything like that was going on between them.) Then Wells ushered Hartley into one of the offices. Not his own, not the one with all the windows where anyone could see what was going on. Cisco told himself that it was just because Hartley didn't want to be seen vulnerable. Doctor Wells wouldn't initiate anything when he was in this state. Never.

 

Cisco didn't need to bother trying to be nice to Hartley just to get rebuffed- he had someone. He was the _chosen one,_ after all.

 

And if he felt a sense of unease when the two interacted in front of him in the future... he pushed the thought away as irrational and ignored it. He almost said something, sometimes. Almost.

 

(Jones, from what they heard through the grapevine, did not come back to work.)

**Author's Note:**

> This has been in my drafts since February. I wrote it pretty much in one night. Not sure about it tbh, but I might as well post it.
> 
> Title is from the quote _the saddest word in the whole wide world is almost_


End file.
